What You Need To Know Before The Road To UFC Finale

Episode 2

• Featherweight: Koyomi Matsushima defeats JunYoung Hong by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
• Flyweight: Qui Lun defeats Wallen Del Rosario by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Flyweight: Takeru Uchida defeats Shaun Etchell by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:26 of Round 1
• Lightweight: Jeka Saragih defeats Pawan Maan by KO (spinning backfist) at 2:24 of Round 3

A textbook spinning backfist landed Jeka Saragih in the semifinals. Saragih wants the world to know how determined he is to take this thing all the way.

“I’m not satisfied with this one victory,” Saragih said. “After this, I’m going to train even harder because I want the UFC contract.”

ORDER UFC 284: Makhachev vs Volkanovski

Episode 3

• Featherweight: JeongYeong Lee defeats Xie Bin by submission (armbar) at 0:36 of Round 1
• Flyweight: Top Noi Kiwram defeats Yuma Horiuchi by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura defeats Gugun Gusman by submission (Americana) at 2:34 of Round 1
• Strawweight: Josephine Knutsson defeats YeDam Seo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Lee proves why he is the favorite in the featherweight competition by delivering a quick finish of opponent Xie Bin. The South Korean tells us how.

“My specialty is the armbar, so I planned to get this victory doing just that,” he said. “I’m going to come back with new techniques and I am going to surprise you.”

WATCH: Alexander Volkanovski | Greatest Hits

Episode 4

• Flyweight: HyunSung Park defeats Jeremia Siregar by TKO (punches) at 3:56 of Round 1
• Bantamweight: Shohei Nose defeats Wulijiburen by TKO (injury stoppage) at 1:13 of Round 1
• Featherweight: Lu Kai defeats Angga by TKO (strikes) at 4:33 of Round 2
• Lightweight: KyeongPyo Kim defeats Asikeerbai Jinensibieke at 0:30 of Round
• Welterweight: HanSeul Kim defeats John Adajar by submission (triangle armbar) at 4:37 of Round 1

HyungSung Park kept his record clean with a patient performance that led to a TKO in the first round against Jeremia Siregar. The flyweight questioned his lack of nerves entering the arena but mentioned how he used it to his advantage to ultimately defeat his opponent.

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“Surprisingly, I wasn’t that nervous, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this right’?” he said. But being able to execute his game plan accordingly helped Park stay steady. “He, out of nowhere, started wrestling me so, from there, I went for the double underhooks and I took him down.”

Semifinals | Abu Dhabi, October 2022

The semifinals of Road To UFC were held October 23rd, in Abu Dhabi, the day after UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev took place. Eight athletes won and advanced to the finals to compete in Las Vegas on February 4.

RECAP: Road To UFC Results And Scorecards | Semi-Finals 

Here were the official results:

Episode 5

• Featherweight: Yi Zha defeats Koyomi Matsushima by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Flyweight: SeungGuk Choi defeats Qiu Lun by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lightweight: Jeka Saragih defeats Wonbin Ki by Knockout (right hand) at 2:41 of Round 1
• Featherweight: Keisuke Sasu defeats Balajin by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

A competitive three rounds played out between two featherweight favorites. Yi Zha ultimately clinched his spot in the semi-finals with the judge’s decision, moving his record to 21-3. Yi tells UFC.com how he felt after such a hard-fought victory. 

“I thought we fought a very even match; after the judges raised my hand, I was very excited,” Yi also added that he hopes fight fans appreciated all his work. “I know the fans saw 15 minutes in the Octagon, but its beyond [that]. We are fighters for 15 but we sacrifice a lot in our daily lives.”

Episode 6

• Featherweight: JeongYeong Lee defeats Lu Kai by KO (right hand) at 0:42 of Round 1
• Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura defeats Shohei Nose by KO at 2:21 of Round 1
• Flyweight: HyunSung Park defeats Top Noi Kiwram by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
• Lightweight: Anshul Jubli defeats KyeongPyo Kim by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Welterweight: Samandar Murodov defeats Gian Siqueira by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:59

Rinya Nakamura secured a spot in the Road To UFC finals after his incredible first-round knockout victory over Shohei Nose. After the win, Nakamura wanted the world to know just how determined he is to earn a spot in the in UFC.

“I did not come here [just to be] a UFC fighter,” Nakamura told UFC.com. “I came to be a UFC champion.”

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Nakamura and seven others await their fate.

Look below to see the final matchups and how and when you can watch the finale of the Road To UFC.

Finals | UFC APEX, February 4th

• Flyweight: SeungGuk Choi vs HyunSung Park
• Bantamweight: Toshiomo Kazama vs Rinya Nakamura
• Featherweight: Yi Zha vs JeongYeong Lee
• Lightweight: Jeka Saragih vs Anshul Jubli

The prelims of UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac, which features each of the Road To UFC finale bouts, will start at 10pm ET/7pm PT and the Main Card starts at 1am ET/10pm PT.

UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac will air live in Asia on Sunday, February 5th, from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prelims start at 11am (Hong Kong time), followed by the finals at 12pm.